Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 4

Alright ladies and gents, 3 weeks in the books as we head into week 4. At this stage in the game we should have a large enough sample size to be able to decipher whether someone is truly a bust or if there is hope for the rest of the season. Guys like Isaiah Crowell and Terrelle Pryor who probably left the board early in most drafts have amassed only mediocre yardage after 3 games this season. If after the dreaded game number 4, either of these guys are unable to be productive, they deserve to be on your bench until they prove you they are worth a spot in your lineup. With some interesting matchups this week, lets take a look at who I think is worthy of a spot in your lineup this week, and who deserves to sit on the bench.

Start Em’ QB

Russell Wilson after starting really slow the first two weeks of the season came back to life last week against the Tennessee Titans. While they lost that game DangeRus looked really good spreading the ball around in his usual fashion linking up with receivers for 4 scores, while also getting active in the run game with 7 carries for 26 yards. This week I think we see more of the same as the Seahawks host the Colts on Sunday night football. The Colts defense is abysmal, so Wilson should have no issues getting things going and if Jacoby Brissett can keep this a game look for Rus to keep slinging the ball. Doug Baldwin is questionable, and if he doesn’t suit up that will be a huge loss for this offense, but there are enough mouths to feed and I see Wilson getting involved in the run again in this one. He’s a lock as a QB1 this week.

Sit Em’ QB

Derek Carr had two very solid outings in his first two games of the season throwing for 5 touchdowns and just shy of 500 passing yards. Last week on the road in Washington, Carr looked flat out terrible completing 19 of 31 for 118 with 1 TD and 2 INT. That’s against Washington who has a pretty good defense, but it gets worse for Carr and the Raiders who get to visit the Denver Broncos this weekend who have one of the best defenses in the league. To make things worse, Carr’s top redzone target Michael Crabtree has been limited in practice this week and is questionable to suit up this weekend. I’m looking elsewhere for a QB this week, and you should too.

Start Em’ RB

Ty Montgomery, the WR turned RB has actually filled the role pretty well so far this season getting involved in the run game and the receiving game. Last week was a tough go for Ty as the Packers offense struggled against the Bengals who were looking to bounce back after 2 terrible games. This week Ty has a great chance to bounce back against the struggling Chicago Bears. Their defense is actually pretty decent, but that offense doesn’t have too much going for them. The Bears are traveling to Green Bay and I don’t see any way the Packers lose this game. If the Packers can score a couple touchdowns in the first half, look for Ty to get a ton of carries in the second half of the game. He is already highly involved in this offense, but I think he has a good chance of getting close to 20 carries in this game. That should be good for close to 100 scrimmage yards, hopefully he can also secure his 4th TD of the season.

Sit Em’ RB

Isaiah Crowell so far this season has been a huge let down. After talks all offseason about committing to the run game and all the upgrades that Browns team made to their offensive line has amounted to just modest scrimmage yards for Crowell this season. Like I mentioned before this is the all important 4th game of the season which usually allows us to see trends, and the only trend I’ve seen so far from Crowell has been mediocre performance. This week he has a tough matchup against the Bengals who were able to keep the Green Bay Packers in check for the majority of their game last week. Now they face a Browns offense that has struggled to get anything going. The Bengals also have one of the stronger rush D’s in the league so if you were expecting Crowell to finally have a good game I think you might have to wait another week, Crowell is going to be sitting on my bench this week.

Start Em’ WR

Demaryius Thomas hasn’t quite been able to get a ton going in his opening 3 games of the season. However, in a tough matchup against the Buffalo Bills Thomas secured 6 balls on 9 targets for 98 receiving yards. While he has yet to eclipse the 100 yard mark, Thomas has still been seeing at least 8 targets a game. Here its just a matter of time before Thomas pops off a big game and I think he has a good chance of doing so at home against Oakland. These games are always intense, but I think the needle points in favor of Denver this week. They just lost to the Buffalo Bills on the road and will look to bounce back at home. Siemian will look to go to his best receiver a lot this game as the Broncos look to put up more than 16 total points this game. I think Thomas gets at least 10 targets, 7 or more catches for close to 100 yards and his first TD of the season this Sunday.

Sit Em’ WR

T.Y. Hilton finally dropped a game we knew he was capable of last week against the Browns amassing 153 yards and a TD. I think he has a lot more games like that in the foreseeable future, but this weekend in Seattle I don’t think is going to be one. Jacoby Brissett stepping in to the starting position has definitely been favorable for the Colts and T.Y. but going up against the Legion of Boom generally does not lead to a ton of fantasy production. Sherman will most likely be hanging all over Hilton so I don’t think he is poised for a big game. He should still see the targets, but T.Y.’s bread and butter is being able to use his speed to break out in to the open field, but the Seahawks will have Hilton in their sights all game long. If you have no other options, he is still an ok flex play, but I think you see more of what he did the first two weeks of the season as opposed to last weekend.

Start Em’ TE

Jared Cook was the only saving grace of the Oakland Raiders last week, but it still wasn’t enough to save them from a terrible loss. So far this season Cook has been consistent getting about 5 or 6 targets a game and amassing around 50 receiving yards. This week he goes up against the Denver Broncos which you may think is a bad matchup, but the Broncos have shown that they can be beat by TE’s having allowed a TE to score a TD in all of their games so far this season. Yes you read that right, Week 1 Antonio gates, Week 2 Jason Witten, and Week 3 Charles Clay. When the numbers keep coming your way on the roulette table, you let that ride baby and I’m going to keep letting it ride with Cook against the Broncos this weekend. With Crabtree being limited, and Talib most likely draped all over Cooper, there is a huge opportunity for Cook to get involved if the Raiders want any hope of staying in this game.

Sit Em’ TE

Austin Hooper burst on to the scene week 1 with 128 receiving yards and a TD and since then has been essentially silent. The matchups have been tough, but when I say silent I mean the guy has yet to tally more than 10 receiving yards in each of his last two games. There was a lot of talk about Hooper in the offseason, but I think week 1 was more of a fluke than anything else. He has only gotten 2 targets in each game and the matchup this week is tough as the Falcons host the Buffalo Bills. Until we see Hooper getting 5+ targets in the passing game, he deserves to sit on your bench.